A/N: It's all Jo Rowling's!

Chapter 6: Courage

September, 1980.
One week after the funeral of Dorcas Meadowes.

Her death had been something of a catalyst in the fight. Everyone could feel the tension and the stakes rise. Things were coming to a head after ten years of his rise in power.

There had been more attacks and small fights between rogue Death Eaters and lone pairs of Order guards in the past week, than there had been all year. Caradoc had been working insane hours every day; Marlene barely saw him which, considering the atmosphere, upset her greatly.

It all happened the night her and Remus Lupin were patrolling together. Marley enjoyed patrolling with the shy and sage young man who always seemed, to Marlene, incredibly mature and unfortunately world-weary for his age.

He would always update her on his friends, the Marauders and Lily Evans (wait, Marlene thought to herself, it was Lily Potter now). She, in return, would give him news of Caradoc and Mr and Mrs Fenwick.

However, that night they did not feel like giving such updates. They were there on a tip-off. According to their source, two Death Eaters were going to target the Muggle born witch who lived on this street, who had refused You-Know-Who's offer to join him. They were alone for this mission. They didn't need back up for two adversaries; both Marley and Remus were very skilled duellists.

Out of the gloom appeared two cloaked figures. Although Remus sensibly gestured at her to hold back for a second, Marlene could see no point in waiting; the longer they refrained from attacking, the closer the two murderers got to an innocent woman.

She darted forwards, under the streetlight and fired a silent Stunner. At that exact moment, a silver Stallion raced round the corner. The spell left her wand as she turned in horror to look at Caradoc's Patronus and his all too familiar voice floated across to where she stood.

"It's a set-up. Apparate now, do not attack. Leave before they know you're here."

Remus stared at Marlene in horror, his hand outstretched towards hers. He would not leave her but they had to escape before -

Her Stunner made impact with the smaller of the two men.

"THEY'RE HERE."

The second the Death Eater's deafening cry left his lips, the night air was suddenly filled with shadowy figures converging on the two young fighters.

Marlene saw with dismay the very young witch they'd been trying to protect, sprint out of her house to try and aid Marley and Remus. She was dead within seconds of stepping out of her front gate.

Marlene and Remus were surviving, just about. They could not attempt to fight back. Instead they concentrated on their defensive spells, circling back-to-back and continually replenishing their Shield Charms. They were faced with such a strong barrage of curses, mainly the dreaded jets of green light. The Killing Curse.

Marley quietly accepted to herself that it might be her time. She felt Remus squeeze her hand, she did not drop his and they continued to circle back-to-back but also hand-in-hand.

The crowd of Death Eaters surrounding them almost simultaneously increased the rate at which they were trying to kill the pair. She could not hurl the words of the charms fast enough and one spell shot past her so close, the light momentarily blinded her.

"Goodbye." They both muttered the word at the same time. They weren't going to stop defending themselves but they both realised they were grossly outnumbered.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY GIRL."

The Death Eater whose spell had just grazed Marlene's face was sent flying through the air by a jet of red light. Caradoc raced towards the pair, firing off spells as he moved.

Sirius Black sprinted past them, high-fiving Remus as he ran, spells flying from his wand incessantly. Hestia sliced through the air, knocking down three cloaked men in one go. Her husband bound two other offenders before knocking them out neatly.

Alastor Moody and Edgar Bones were duelling together in perfect harmony. Elphias Doge shot a smart curse at the Death Eater about to hit young Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Order's newest recruit, from behind.

Marlene quickly dove into the fray, not even taking time to savour the relief of the rescue. She joined Caradoc, Benjy and Hestia, her three best friends, in the centre of the battle.

They fought together in sync for a few minutes that seemed much longer until the two couples were separated in the chaos. The next thing Marley was aware of was Caradoc's yell of pain. She turned to him, not terrified yet because people hit by the Killing Curse didn't have time to scream.

Blood poured from the place where his left arm had been. For a few seconds, Marlene could do nothing but stare in horror as curses flew around her. Caradoc too seemed frozen, staring at the dark hole where his limb had been mere seconds before.

"Severus Snape, I'm going to fucking kill him."

Caradoc's words were the trigger Marley needed; she jumped into action immediately, twisting and turning whilst firing off spells and trying to defend both her and her injured boyfriend.

It could only have been a few minutes later that he arrived but in the heat of the battle, it felt to Marlene like hours. She continued yelling spells as fast as she could, one eye on Caradoc but her heart leapt into her throat as there a sudden swirl of darkness appeared a few metres to her right.

Voldemort.

Dorcas's sweet face filled her mind. Her laugh and her smile, her serious scowl, days by the Lake with Hestia too.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Marlene was going to do something.

"Avada Kedavra!" She'd never used the spell before but it worked. The curse shot past him, missing by millimetres. The scream he emitted was not human, it was so full of rage.

He twisted in mid-air, his back arched and his face full of hatred. Marlene tensed herself, ready to fight and defend when suddenly the expression on his deathly pale face changed. No longer was it filled with rage and vengeance but it was cold and calculating.

Voldemort turned away from Marlene. No one else seemed to have even noticed her attempt to thwart him or his odd reaction to it. They were all too caught up in their own battles; even Caradoc was managing to duel one masked figure despite his grievous injury.

And then Marlene realised. She saw him raise his arm to point the wand (that was just moments ago trained at her heart) at Hestia. She heard his high cruel laugh and felt it resound deep in her eardrums, mixing with the blood ringing in her ears. She dived forwards unthinkingly.

Caradoc glanced away from the Death Eater in front of him just in time to see his Marley sprinting towards Hestia. He tried to reach for her and felt another wave of nausea hit him as he realised he couldn't.

Hestia looked up at the sound of her best friend's fast approaching yells. She tried to shout for Marlene to return to Caradoc, who looked about to collapse but then the saw the streak of green light heading straight towards her.

Marlene cast her Shield Charm just in time. There was a huge explosion as the two spells collided that knocked both girls and Benjy off their feet. As the dust cleared they realised that for some unknown reason, their attackers had left as quickly as they'd arrived.

As Marlene surveyed the street dazedly, she discovered that it was not just the Death Eaters who had disappeared.

"CARADOC!" She screamed his name into the night in a futile attempt to call him back to her.

She felt herself enveloped by friendly, comforting, sorrowful arms. Nothing could help her now.

"I think they've taken him," The gruff voice of Alastor Moody reached Marlene from the other side of the mass hug.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

A/N: The penultimate chapter! Thanks again to everyone who's reading this. This has been my favourite fic to write, ever!

Reviews are ADORED. I'll post the last chapter in a very short while!

Elle xx